The Frozen Apocalypse
by TheFourthAlchemenitor
Summary: The Empire's Greatest, General Esdeath always gets what she wants. But, she has never had a bigger challenge than earning Tatsumi's love. She finds out about Tatsumi's association with Night Raid, and unbeknownst to Tatsumi, she decides that Night Raid must be eliminated in order to force Tatsumi loyal to her. What will he do when all that he holds dear to him is gone?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! This is my first Fanfiction. The story starts at the end of Episode 13 when Esdeath finds Tatsumi. Feedback is really appreciated!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The sky was shadowed and sprinkled with a few dim stars, but it had a calming, yet gloomy moon. A magnificent flying danger beast moved through the sky just like a magic carpet, as there was nothing less royal than the Empire's Greatest herself, General Esdeath, as it's rider.

This was not a joy ride, however. The chilled wind blowing into Esdeath's face was her attempt to cool her new, conflicted emotions. Her true desire for him seems to not be so easily annihilated.

Tatsumi.

All that she could imagine was his stunning smile, his forest green eyes. He truly was the perfect man to fit her descriptions, but he managed to escape her frozen clutches. Nothing could anger Esdeath more than the thought that he had escaped, yet the simple thought of him elevated her to a slight smile.

Esdeath spotted a shadow, and she desperately needed something to release her emotions on through her sweet torture. She didn't care if it was a danger beast, the culprit, or an innocent civilian.

She needed a victim.

'This must be the criminal causing all the trouble!' she thought. She jumped off her danger beast, and with fine form, pointed her sword at the figure on the rock.

"Would you-" she paused.

No one was there. The shadow seemed to have vanished. Esdeath called her danger beast back, and hopped on, carrying on with her search for a victim.

Tatsumi's invisibility faded. "Phew. That was close. I didn't expect to almost be found by her." He began his retreat back down from the peak, but he stopped at the the roar of the danger beast.

It was coming closer.

Esdeath had turned around, her killer instincts told her that her prey would show up eventually, and it did. She dashed off of her danger beast. She noticed that her opponent had invisibility, and thus prepared to swiftly incapacitate her opponent.

"As I was saying. Would you like the privilege to be tortured by the Empire's Finest?" she jeered.

Despite Incursio being so strong, it shattered even as Tatsumi attempted to dodge her strike. Not a flesh wound, luckily.

"A feisty one, aren't you?" Esdeath inquired. She turned around, to look at the wounds she had inflicted on her opponent, but she froze. "Tatsumi?" is all that she managed to blurt as her face came to a slight blush.

Tatsumi was in a state of shock. He knew that he must be too weak if Incursio can be shattered by a mere sword. He stood there as Esdeath flung her arms around him like a child to it's favorite teddy bear.

Esdeath's spree of joy was quickly interrupted by an ambush from a group of danger beasts. Esdeath face turned wrathful and swiftly cut down all the danger beasts down with no care for the spread of blood.

After she was done, a large smile in realization dawned upon her face. "So this isn't a dream!" Esdeath gushed.

Tatsumi's state of panic slightly faded. "Seriously, I wish this was a dream," he murmured to himself.

Esdeath towered behind Tatsumi and put her arms around his neck, and with a slight grin, went through another reality check. "Undoubtedly this is Tatsumi's scent." She leaned in behind his ear. "You're the real thing. How dare you run away?" She nipped his ear, making Tatsumi grimace.

"I was lonely."

Tatsumi desperately thought of a way to weasel out of this situation. "Wh-Why are you here?" he exclaimed frantically.

Esdeath calmed down a little and told a white lie to avoid hinting Tatsumi of her weakness towards him.

"Lately, I've been exterminating the Danger Beasts harassing the Capital, and I just happened to run into you." She then created a face of curiosity. "What are you doing here?" she marveled.

"I'm here because of Nigh-" He tried to change the subject, and made a worried glance on his face.

"Um, before I answer, do you mind doing something about this position?" Tatsumi said as he bided for time.

"No." Esdeath firmly stated.

"When we're this close, I can't concentrate..."

Esdeath wondered the reason for this concentration Tatsumi mentioned. Love or fear? Her frozen grip strengthened on Tatsumi.

"I won't, and I can't let you run away again." Esdeath chided.

Tatsumi broke away from her grasp and raised his sword. "I'm here to test my skill. I hear plenty of Danger Beasts roam this area!"

Esdeath's suspicions grew, as she knew he wasn't entirely truthful, but she decided to interrogate him later. She played along. "Then you're here to fight them, too." His story seemed to be somewhat realistic as she could see Tatsumi's physique quite more pronounced than she remembered.

That reminded her of something. "Have you joined the Revolutionary Ar-" She heard footsteps.

A dark hooded man walked a few meters front of them. "My toys seem to have been destroyed. I see that the Empire's Strongest has a little crush of her own," he taunted.

Esdeath stood her ground and drew her sword, and moved into stance. "I'll escort you to the torture room," she threatened.

The man drew a smurk. "Unfortunately, that's not my style."

"Imperial Arms Shambala!" he yelled, creating a portal with violet energy around Tatsumi and Esdeath.

* * *

Tatsumi woke up on a beach. General Esdeath was sitting beside him, looking at the sunrise.

"I think this was destiny, Tatsumi." Esdeath mused as he stood up. "No one else, but you and me."

Tatsumi's panic seemed to have faded. He can't be bothered with panic, as he looked around the island and came to the conclusion that he was stranded with this sadistic woman. However, he glanced at her. "But she's quite beautiful," he thought.

"Esdeath." Esdeath glanced at Tatsumi. "Have I ever mentioned how beautiful of a woman you are?" He knew that she might be interrogating him soon.

Esdeath blushed. "Why, thank you. But now that you say that, I'm not quite sure this is real." She did yet another reality check.

Tatsumi pounded his fist into his chest. "Hurt me."

"I didn't know you were into that type of thing, Tatsumi. I am as well." Esdeath's cheeks turned into a shade of red, grinning in her imagination.

"No! Not like that!" Tatsumi exclaimed. He felt as if he was shaken at the very core by one simply comment. "I mean to check if this is real!"

Esdeath noted all humidity, the taste of sea salt in the air, and the smell of the sea. She then put her hand under Tatsumi's chin and brought it to her face, kissing him and causing Tatsumi's eyes to go wide in surprise.

"This is certainly real," she came to a conclusion.

She remembered what she was going to do before the hooded man interrupted her private time with Tatsumi. Her eyes flared with anger, thinking about the interruption and one other thing.

Esdeath pounced on top of Tatsumi, preventing his escape. "Tatsumi, I noticed you have the Imperial Arms, Incursio, as you hid from me with your invisibility. Do you happen to be part of the Night Raid?" she interrogated as he began to panic once again.

"No, I'm not part of-" Tatsumi received a swift slap to the face.

"Do not lie to me, Tatsumi. I can tell when you lie."

"Erm...fine. I'm part of the Night Raid. Are you happy?" A sigh came from Tatsumi.

Esdeath didn't want to scare Tatsumi away again, thus she decided to show praise for what he had done.

"I'm pleased that you went beyond the Revolutionary Army and managed to find yourself an Imperial Arm. However, we have other important matters to attend to." Esdeath drew her notebook and pen.

"First, we need to investigate our surroundings, as it seems were are on a stranded island."

* * *

After a long day of exploring the two sat down on the beach where the sun has already set.

"Esdeath, do you know how to get out of here?" Tatsumi cooed, still deeply desiring to leave.

Esdeath sighed."I think I know a way out. This island seems to be one of the south eastern islands according to the Empire's map."

Tatsumi murmured to himself, "I never thought I would miss Night Raid so much."

Esdeath heard and made a face of pure hatred. She pretended not to hear, and took out her notebook again.

She ripped out a page. "Tatsumi, please take my drawing of us together." It was the two drawn together inside a heart.

"Okay." Esdeath wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"In order to leave, we need to capture a danger beast. I know how to tame one."

A danger beast flew nearby.

"Let's make this quick." Esdeath summoned a large array of ice crystals aimed to trap the danger beast.

Tatsumi wasn't quite sure what to think of this Esdeath's power besides fear of what could happen to Night Raid.

He jumped in surprise as the portal reopened.

"The perfect chance to get away!" Tatsumi thought. But, the least he could do for the woman who seemed to legitimately desire him is warn her before he left.

"Esdeath! Look over here!" He said as he went through the portal.

"Tatsumi! Wait!" She began to run towards the portal to catch up.

* * *

Tatsumi was back where he started. He ran for the nearest hiding spot, and cloaked himself within Incursio.

Right after he hid, Esdeath came through the portal.

"Tatsumi!" she yelled. "He must have hidden again, unfortunately, since he has Incursio, and knows that I might come back, I don't think he will be as foolish this time around."

She called for her original danger beast, and pounded her fist into the ground.

"I'll find your Night Raid, and once I'm done, you'll belong to me, and me only." She mounted her danger beast and left.

Tatsumi began to walk back to Night Raid's base. He decided to keep the drawing of him and Esdeath. Despite her obsession with him, Esdeath seemed genuine with her emotions, and it was a nice drawing, after all.

Little did he know, but that might have been one of the biggest mistakes of his lifetime.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thanks for reading! Feedback is highly appreciated! The next chapter will be focused primarily on Night Raid.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for the feedback!

I'll do my best to make this chapter a little longer, and I really appreciate the nice reviews that people are posting.

Let's hope I can keep those coming!

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Slowly, in the rocks, the golden beams of the sun rose once again as Tatsumi dragged his feet back to Night Raid's base. He had practically been awake for almost a day and a half.

But that wasn't the only source of his fatigue. The emotional stress of being around that thing, Esdeath, took quite at toll on his body. His head began to fill with memories.

"Her pale face, the icy locks, her beautiful bo-"

Tatsumi shook his head, trying to rid himself of the memories. The thought of her alone was enough to give himself a brain freeze. He knew what a monster she is as he's heard the stories.

Esdeath and Tatsumi were like two opposite corner puzzle pieces; no way could the two ever fit together. He cared about the people of the Empire, he cared about the civilians. He cared about his village.

She didn't. All Esdeath cared about was chasing her desires. Her lust. Tatsumi. Battle. Domination. Power. Even if the only thing she cared about was alluring Tatsumi, she could never fully understand and accept his resolve for others. Even without that, Tatsumi couldn't imagine him forgiving the monster.

"It's simply not possible," Tatsumi murmured to himself as he stopped shaking his head.

He spotted something in the distance that would take his mind off of her.

Tatsumi began to run towards the door of Night Raid's base.

* * *

He slowly approached the door, and all he heard the sound of the dining room. It must be breakfast.

No one was perfectly happy, however. One could hear the distress and disturbance that Tatsumi's absence had caused on the assassins. He was essential to the spirit of Night Raid, despite being there for a significantly shorter time than the other assassins.

He paused with his hand on the door, pondering about something. Maybe someone.

Then he opened the door, only for the room to go completely silent with slight shock.

Najenda composes herself to a straight face. "Welcome back, Tatsumi."

Lubbock then follows through. "Where have you been? You look exhausted."

Tatsumi follows by explaining the entire situation, including Esdeath's deep desire for him, her vast power, and how the stories seem to be true. However, he ceases to mention the picture he took from her.

Lubbock pounds his fist on the table in a slight fit of rage. "So you've been lounging around on a island of paradise with an alluring woman instead of hanging out with me!"

He relaxes, and talks in a calm, slightly sarcastic voice. "Not that I'm jealous or anything."

Mine stands up, and walks over to Tatsumi, slapping him in the face. "How dare you tell her that you were in Night Raid! She could have killed you, idiot."

Najenda begins to explain. "Esdeath is a very dangerous person, and she likes to get what she desires. If Tatsumi didn't give her an honest answer, she probably would have tortured him for it. He had no way to escape, obviously. After all, they were on an island."

Leone pounces on Tatsumi and hugs him. "Oooooh poor Tatsumi!" she teased.

"Not like you would understand, Mine," Chelsea remarked as she starts pacing away from her, preparing for a reaction.

Mine eyes turn into daggers, and she immediately stands up. "You can't insult a comrade like that!" she whined as she began to chase Chelsea. "I won't stand for this!"

"Ahem." The two stopped.

Najenda took out her cigar. "With the Jaegers finishing their business with the danger beasts, we're likely the next target. There isn't any other significant threats to them besides us. However, since Tatsumi is now here, we can begin the preparation for the revolution. But, Tatsumi must be exhausted. We will finish this conversation later after Tatsumi can get some rest."

Tatsumi struggles to lift himself, his exhaustion was really settling in. He could hardly understand much of anything from the fatigue.

Akame walks over in a graceful, yet awkward sort of fashion, and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I'll help you get back to your room."

They enter the hallway, and Tatsumi begins to talk to his willing comrade. "You know, I never realized how much I missed the banter around here."

Akame stops, and her face begins to look pained. "The banter only happens when you are around, Tatsumi."

"What? I didn't know that I affected the spirit of the group that much."

They begin to walk again. "I don't know what we would do without you."

Akame got to the door of Tatsumi's bedroom, and opened it. Tatsumi exhaustedly slouched his way in and collapsed into bed, immediately falling asleep. Akame made careful notice to not let the door squeak as she closed it.

She began to walk back outside.

"I don't know what I would do without you."

* * *

Akame arrived at a grove with leaves as green as his eyes, and branches as brown as his hair. She leaned against a tree, in the shade.

She glanced the dark blue river reflecting the wispy clouds in the sky, and sighed in relief. She had only been here not even a day ago, viewing the amber sunset.

However, she was now feeling quite different emotions.

She thought he might be dead.

No one in Night Raid expected Akame, at of all people, to skip out on a meal. But then, food didn't even glance her mind. She could only think about Tatsumi, and what might have happened to him. There was another puzzling thing that she now began to realize.

What was that emotion, what does she feel for Tatsumi? Her assassin background had trained her well, unfortunately. She had forgot most of these emotions since being taken with her sister.

She wasn't really sure. However, uncertainty, unlike Esdeath, didn't bother Akame as much.

Akame remembered his smile. It made her happy for some reason. His passion to save the citizens of the Empire is quite inspiring, to say the least.

His passion also fueled his ability to kill his targets like a cold-blooded assassin. Quite contradictory, one would think. But somehow, it makes sense in Akame's head, despite her typically logical approach to life.

She recalled Tatsumi's promise after he assumed she broke down when he asked her about Sheele's death.

 _Tatsumi fell over. "Are you all right, Tatsumi?"_

" _That's my way of switching gears. Don't worry about me."_

 _He stood up. "I'm sorry, Akame. That was thoughtless of me."_

" _Let me promise you again."_

 _I will not die!" he firmly stated._

" _I vow to never make you grieve!"_

" _We'll all be peacefully together after we change the Empire!"_

His compassion and his drive for no one to be hurt, physically or emotionally, no matter how naive it could be, inspired her to keep moving.

He hadn't been in the Night Raid for that long, but she couldn't imagine what Night Raid would be without him. She couldn't imagine being completely sane without him either. It was nearly impossible.

She then contently blanked her mind for a time, looking up to the leaves. After an hour or two, she stood up and walked back to the Night Raid's headquarters.

She didn't hear or notice anyone while she went into the kitchen to look for a snack.

It was the first time she had snacked since Tatsumi's disappearance.

"They must be on a mission," she murmured as she began to head towards the spot she helped Tatsumi towards just a few hours ago that day.

She quietly opened the door, and looked at Tatsumi sleeping on the bed. Little did anyone at Night Raid know, but she had slept his bed last night while Tatsumi was gone. It was simply more comfortable, but she didn't know why. She noticed Tatsumi on the right side of the bed.

"It might be time for a nap," she said as she crawled into the left side of the bed. Akame had no clue what the two sleeping in a bed together implied, as she had never been fully educated on social antics.

The two touched just slightly as she began to fall asleep into her nap.

* * *

The sun was an hour away from sunset, almost dinner time.

Tatsumi opened his eyes, and he was just about to freak out at the sight, but all he could deliver is a shocked look as he noticed a woman sleeping on the other side of the bed, and didn't want to wake her.

He took a second to look at her. Dark, flowing hair, pale skin, she looked like Akame, but he wasn't sure.

His eyes noticed Murasame leaning on his bed, and he grimaced in realization of his stupidity. "Yep, it's her."

He also began to think, returning to a calmer state and turning to glance at the ceiling. He remembered how much he missed the Night Raid in the day that Esdeath was with him.

He didn't know why he missed it so much. Was it just much better than the current situation? Was it because of the team? Did he like the killing? He shuddered at the thought of that sadism, and then assured himself that couldn't be the answer.

Maybe it was because of Akame? Tatsumi turned to look at her.

He had always thought she was quite odd, with her awkward behavior, just like she was demonstrated by crawling into his bed. Her naivety towards social interactions never made sense to him. However, it had a certain charm to it.

He also hated to see her cry. Tatsumi remembered when he talked to her about Sheele, and shuddered. He didn't want that to happen to her ever again. He planned to keep that promise. The grief his death might incur on her worried him. He thought it might be too much and too soon on her shoulders.

His door busted open, and Leone began to cheerfully yell: "Tatsumi! We're back, it's time for-"

She began to laugh hysterically. "You two love birds should come eat dinner," she managed.

Akame got up, picked up masamune, and walked out the door. "Akame wait!" Tatsumi said as he began to rush to dinner, curious and still a bit disturbed by her climbing into her bed with him.

Leone was gossiping. "-they were taking a 'nap' in the bed together," she said as Tatsumi walked in.

"Oh, so the ladies' man is here," Lubbock mocked sarcastically as Tatsumi blushed a beat red.

Akame kept a straight face. "Let's eat."

So the dinner began, and Tatsumi engulfed his food just as viciously as Akame did, which caused others at the table to give him odd looks.

"I hadn't really eaten in two days," Tatsumi muttered as he continued his predatory actions towards his plate of food.

Everyone stopped eating once they heard loud, angry crow calls in the distance, making a ruckus outside.

"I'll go take a look outside," Susanoo said.

* * *

 _A few hours earlier..._

Esdeath had decided to take a rest, as she hadn't really slept in two days. It was rather difficult, considering she lost her Tatsumi again.

She thought about how desperately she wanted Tatsumi back as she began to fall asleep.

She woke up. Her room was cold, and empty, like it was before she found Tatsumi originally.

Only one thought came to Esdeath's head. It was that Tatsumi needed to be secured.

"How do I do that?" she thought as the general began to develop a strategy.

She knew just the way. "Eliminate Night Raid."

Little did Tatsumi know, that the picture she drew was actually a tracking device made by Dr. Stylish right after Tatsumi had escaped.

" _Doctor," she hissed, "could you create a device in which I can track my Tatsumi if I find him again?"_

" _Actually, I already made a tracking device I think you can put to good use." Dr. Stylish placed a notebook and pen in Esdeath's hand._

" _This is just a notebook and pen," Esdeath raged._

" _Not quite, General." Dr. Stylish tried to keep his composure to avoid being slain by the powerful General due to her rage. "The pen allows you to draw or write something, and then if you rip the page out, the pen will lead you to the most recent page that had been written on and ripped out."_

" _How does it lead you there?" Esdeath questioned._

" _If you lift this panel," Dr. Stylish lifts a part of the pen, "there is a one-sided compass-like object that points straight to it."_

 _Esdeath grinned. "Excellent, thank you, Doctor." She clutched the pen and notebook as she exited the Doctor's laboratory._

She called a meeting for her Jaegers, and prepared her strategy to attack Night Raid, and to secure her Tatsumi.

The attack on Night Raid would soon commence.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but throughout just these two chapters are about a dozen ice puns relating to Esdeath (brain freeze, anyone?). I have also put a large amount of research and work into making sure that I portray the characters in Night Raid correctly, so hopefully you guys liked them. They truly are a grab bag of personalities.


	3. Chapter 3 (v2)

**Author's Note:**

So, someone found that I missed something when proof reading. I labeled Akame's sword as Masamune, which is actually a person who lived several centuries ago that was regarded as one of Japan's greatest swordsmiths (I like history). Anyway, her sword is actually called the Murasame. Don't worry, I fixed it and shout out to J.f.w for pointing it out!

FYI to the people who have already read this chapter the first day I posted it, I practically rewrote the chapter after posting. I found that I should have taken a little bit more time with this chapter as besides the very major plot points because the chapter was pretty sloppily put together. I added and edited for clarification, satisfaction, flow, and for it just to make more sense because some of the stuff I put in here made me wonder what I was on when I was proofreading this morning.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

There was a detailed map of an unfamiliar area on a table, they have hadn't a frequent update to it as that area was assumed barren.

The wooden table had six people seated. Seryu, Wave, Kurome, Bols, Run, and of course, at the head of the table, General Esdeath.

Esdeath explained the plan. First, surround the Night Raid's base. Seryu, Run, and herself would come from behind, as she was expecting them to retreat, thus she would place the strongest in the back. Wave, Kurome, and Bols would be in the front.

The second step was quite simply. personally dispose of everyone that Tatsumi cared about.

Esdeath's determination to retrieve her Tatsumi was unable to be reasoned with or stopped. Her eyes were hot ice, nothing in the room could possibly take the passion emitting from her face.

The mission was also quite simple. Destroy the Night Raid for the sake of Tatsumi.

The justification for this mission was probably the most difficult part to understand.

"Why would you kill the loved ones of the one you love? It's just like what you would feel if Tatsumi died. He probably would feel the same way," Wave explained as he tried to reason with Esdeath.

Obviously lacking any form of empathy or understanding for other people's emotions, Esdeath completely dodged the answer. "Don't worry about it, Wave, it's irrelevant."

However, she silently doubted herself with worries. Showing off weakness to your subordinates was petty behavior for a general.

What would this do to Tatsumi? Would he hate her? Would he understand? She had no idea. But in Esdeath's head, this was the only solution.

After all, General Esdeath always gets what she wants.

* * *

Susanoo scanned across the trees. It was quite silent in contrast to what he heard from inside. A beam of light then flashed into Susanoo's face. It was a reflection from a piece of armor. He re-positioned himself out of the reflected light to then spot someone attempting to hid behind a tree. He observed the armor. It could be nothing other than the Imperial Arm, Grand Chariot!

Susanoo used his photographic memory of Najenda's introduction lecture that no human being could ever bear to recall that the Grand Chariot belonged to the Jaegars. He then ran back inside to warn the others. "The source of the noise seems to be that the Jaegars are outside, preparing for a surprise attack."

Najenda never expected them to find the Night Raid's base so soon. She hadn't drilled or told the members of Night Raid yet what to do. This was completely unexpected.

But as any skilled superior would know to do, Najenda stayed calm and acted as if she was prepared for a surprise attack on this scale. "Everyone fights together. First, we need to first take out the threats in the front. They likely sent the strongest of their group behind the base to expect us to escape."

The group ran out the front door to find only Wave, Bols, and Kurome preparing for combat.

A colossus white behind slowly materialized from the shadows as Kurome raised her sword.

Mine aimed down her sights, aiming right for Kurome's head. Kurome could not manage a muscle during her concentration to summon her strongest puppet.

It was almost too easy as Mine pulled the trigger. "Nooo!" echoed throughout the forest as, Wave dove to block the shot. Kurome finished summoning Desta-Ghoul, to have her senses return as she found Wave lying on the ground with a slight crack in his armor.

Bols knew that the two would be occupied for a few seconds. He had first hand experience with someone caring for him. Bols decided that it was best fired Rubicante at the clustered Night Raid to buy time.

Kurome's eyes glistened with worry as Wave sat on the ground. The bullet had struck his armor in the chest.

"Are you okay, Wave?"

Susanoo span his staff rapidly to disperse the upcoming wall of fire.

Wave coughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Could you help me up?" He raised his hand out, and she pulled him off the ground.

Akame dashed around the blast and aimed a strike at Bols, only for Bols to block her strike with his arm plates.

"Don't sweat it, Kurome. My armor's invincible." He pounded a fist against pounded his chest. "Let's get to fighting."

Wave charged Akame only to be blocked by Tatsumi where the two begin to duel, exchanging blows with their invincible armor.

Kurome dashed at Akame as well, only to stop after she dodged just another shot from Pumpkin. She stepped back into the cover of the forest as her beast roared.

The eyes of Kurome turned cold and she developed a slight smirk. "This is Desta-Ghoul, an ultra-class danger beast. I found him hibernating, so I thought he might look nicely in my army."

Susanoo delivered a strike to the danger beast. "This thing must be quite strong. We'll have to restrict it somehow in order to inflict enough damage."

Lubbock came up with an idea. "Susanoo, let me tie my string to your staff. Surround the danger beast and eventually tie it up just like a spider would."

* * *

General Esdeath, Run, and Seryu had taken the long way to block Night Raid from leaving behind. Seryu and herself were more than enough to keep the Night Raid at bay, considering their powerful Teigus.

"It's rather silent. Something must not be going according to plan."

They hear something similar to a roar of the dragon about a mile away, near the Night Raid's base.

She figured it must have been something of Night Raid's doing.

"They must have been alerted to something in the front. We must flank from behind. Come, Run and Seryu."

* * *

Kurome had determined that her danger beast was likely not going to incur much more damage as it was being restricted. She decided to let it act on it's free will and allow her to concentration on fighting via her sword, Yatsufusa. Kurome reassured herself that it would just be struggling in the string of Cross-Tail.

She then charged Akame, interrupting her fight with Bols. "Bols, I need you to distract the Night Raid members fighting Desta-Ghoul," she ordered firmly.

Bols sighed as he slouched to obey her wishes. As far as he knew, his entire job today must be was going to serve as the distraction.

Akame and Kurome swords clashed in a pleasant rhythm, eventually leading the two into the forest. Akame slowly was being pushed backwards, and she hadn't taking notice of the root a few feet behind her.

A complete slice of an assassin's sword is all what it takes to kill.

Kurome opened her eyes slightly and saw that root. All Akame could see were pits of shadow with in her eyes. Kurome then gave a sadistic smile."I can't wait to kill you, sister. You'll be safe forever in my collection." She giggled. "You'll be mine."

Tatsumi glanced at Akame when he heard Kurome's words. He knew that Akame wouldn't be able to retreat much further, it didn't seem like she noticed how she was about to trip. He had to save her. He ran into the midst of their duel without any precautions.

Akame tripped backwards on the root, and Kurome's sword fell vertically to deliver a strike that could slice Akame in half.

"I don't care who you are, you have no right to kill Akame!" Tatsumi valiantly spoke as he blocked the strike. His armor cracked.

Kurome stepped back, as she knew that she couldn't touch Tatsumi. Esdeath wanted him unharmed.

Wave began to charge, practically offended by his abandonment. "How dare you-" He stopped talking as he was pounced on by Leone.

Tatsumi murmured to Akame as he stood in a defensive stance against Kurome. "Run."

Akame didn't know what he meant, till she looked at her own body. There was a severe wound on her shoulder from Kurome's sword. She tried to move the arm. It wouldn't budge.

She was unfit for battle.

Akame began to run through the forest, while Tatsumi kept Kurome at bay.

She ran for what it seemed hours, and she sat down behind a tree and began to cry. She was useless.

Tatsumi continued to fight Kurome with a flurry of strikes from Neunote, but her agility was far superior because she managed to dodge with what it seemed no effort. It seemed she was much faster than him just like Akame. Tatsumi then decided to use the gravity to speed up his next blow upon her as he jumped.

Desta-Ghoul had been fully wrapped around with Cross-Tail besides around the head region. "This was too easy for a ultra-class danger beast. We must be missing something," Najenda commented.

The beast aimed mid air and a beam of solid white energy came screeching out of it's mouth.

"Ah, I see. There it is."

Tatsumi looked towards the source of the loud screeching, only to see a blinding light collide straight into him. His armor began to crumble as Tatsumi fell unconscious.

* * *

Akame stopped her bleeding on her shoulder with a quick homemade bandage. She recalled the river she had been gazing at earlier in the day.

The logical decision is to follow the river downstream. Akame knew that she would not be the only one to come to this conclusion, however.

So she began her way up stream towards the nearest town.

A loud screech echoed, and something that looked like lightning appeared in the sky.

Akame felt a painful pang in her chest as she decided it was for the best to not look. She was on her own now, no need for further emotional attachment.

Her mind started to wander, and eventually all that she could imagine was Tatsumi. She knew it probably wasn't a good idea to fret about spilled milk, but for some reason, she still couldn't stop thinking about him.

Of course Akame had hoped that everyone else had survived the conflict, but they all were at the bottom of the priority of list when she thought of Tatsumi. In the back of her mind, she knew that something must have happened. The Jaegers have shown themselves to be stronger as one that the Night Raid. The weaker half of them could hold off literally the entire group of assassins. That meant everything would change now.

Night Raid was being hunted whether she liked it or not.

* * *

Tatsumi woke up tangled by branches in a tree. The right side of his chest had a wound from being impaled by a branch, but nothing too disabling. Incursio had saved his life by shielding the impact, but it had went into recovery for awhile from the amount of damage it took.

The tree then swept back and forth as Tatsumi struggled to free his binds, and then he fell to the ground. He stumbled to stand up. He was severely weakened and he needed to find a place to stay. He knew there was a town up north and that they thought highly of him as he had slain a danger beast for them before joining Night Raid.

"Night Raid...what happened?" He stopped to ponder the current events. He wanted to fight. They might all be dead. He slammed his fist into the tree, not reacting to the obvious damage it incurred to his fist.

If he wasn't sure what the roar was, but if he had stopped hopelessly slicing at Kurome, maybe things could have gone different. He knew that had already happened is unchangeable, but his pride was slightly damaged by his drive to save everyone.

His eyes began to fill with rage "How can I, despite all my efforts, never managed to save a single person!"

Tatsumi glanced at his wound, and calmed down a little. The color of his blood oddly reminded him of someone.

"I saved Akame, I almost forgot," he sighed in relief as he continued his hike towards his destination.

* * *

Esdeath had reached the battleground, and she began to act like she had prepared a speech.

"Night Raid, as criminals to the Empire, I sentence you all to execution by the hands of the Jaegars!" She announced.

She instantly froze a small prison of ice around every member of Night Raid she could spot.

"Where is Tatsumi?" she asked.

Wave's face turned into a deep frown. He didn't want to have to deliver the news to Esdeath. "He vanished after being struck from some type of blast from Kurome's ultra-class danger beast about that direction." He pointed.

Esdeath knew that she would have to talk to the girl about her possessions later, as there had never been a mention of this danger beast in the past. However, she needed to find Tatsumi before she lost him again. Esdeath observed the surroundings. She didn't see a sign of him anywhere, so that means he must have escaped. His Incursio wouldn't have let him die, so the chances are that he was flown away in the blast.

She estimated his trajectory, and figured that his goal would probably to go to the town north of here.

"Let's hope the people feel cooperative today," she murmured as she developed her iconic sadistic grin.

* * *

The sound of people bustling was music to Tatsumi's ears. He hadn't heard this type of commotion in weeks. He decided to go to the market and get a loaf of bread.

Tatsumi then began to walk to find a place to enjoy his bread. He decided on a spot near the river.

As he finished his bread, he heard a noise in the nearby alleyway. Tatsumi decided to investigate, and walked in.

He heard rapid movement, and found himself pushed against the wall with a dagger to his throat by someone hooded.

A feminine but firm voice spoke. "If you would like to live, give me yo-" she stopped.

The hooded person began to come closer to Tatsumi's face.

Tatsumi began to think. "What did this person want? Is she mugging me?"

She still came closer, he could almost see her face. "Am I going to be killed? I'm in no condition to fight. I'm done for."

He decided to talk. "What wou-" The distance closed in immediately as he spoke. She had kissed him, causing Tatsumi to be wide-eyed as he was able to see who the person was.

Akame.

She moved her face back a few inches, barely able to touch Tatsumi's nose with hers. Tatsumi's mind had practically short circuited in confusion. His expression looked almost if he had a seizure.

Then, Akame murmured, "we need to talk outside of town."

She lifted his hood onto head, and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. She almost dragged Tatsumi into the forest as he was brain dead for the moment, processing what had just happened.

Once there was no one else within earshot, Tatsumi began to talk. "I'm not really sure what to say," he burbled, trying not to mention the kiss. "I thought it would be a long time before I ever found a Night Raid member."

"You gave up too easily," Akame stated, "it's probably fate that you would cross paths with Night Raid sooner than later."

"So, what happened?" Tatsumi asked.

"I ran to a point near this river, and I decided to go upstream. I was prepared to live an entirely new life in hiding, hence why I tried to mug you back there. How about you?"

"I was launched by something to a place just south of here by some type of energy blast."

Tatsumi got on his knees. "I'm not sure what happened to Night Raid. I'm sure Esdeath is there by now, and without us, they could be-"

Akame slapped him in the face. "Don't worry about them. If you fret about other people, we will never be able to take care of ourselves. For all we know, they could still be living." Tatsumi stared at her blankly.

"I don't know what it means, but you and I need to get moving. If you were blasted near here, Esdeath can probably figure out that you came to this city. There is a city east of here."

She pushed Tatsumi against a tree, holding both of his hands yet delivering a serious look into his eyes. Akame took a deep breath.

Tatsumi was extremely conflicted on the emotion Akame attempting to project. He didn't know how to react, so he stood there in silent panic.

"Tatsumi. Would you like to live a life in running with me?" she questioned.

He thought about his answer, and he didn't really know what to say. It's not like he had much of a choice. "Sure, it's nice to have company while running from a sadist lover."

He flinched when Akame squeezed his hand. "She must be thinking of what might happen if Esdeath finds them," Tatsumi thought.

Akame shuddered. She was thinking of the separation between her and Tatsumi. She didn't want to lose him.

"Tatsumi." Akame moved her head away and backed away a little. "What about the promise you made me?"

Tatsumi knew what to say this time around. "I will always keep it. I mean it when I say this." He stood up straight. "I won't ever make you grief! I will stay alive! I will never die!" His face relaxed. "Maybe we can't live happily after the Empire falls, so we might as well make due with now," he said with his iconic wide smile.

Akame held one of his hands and began to walk. "We should probably get moving."

The two began to walk to the east.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Don't worry, I didn't just kill off Night Raid. I also had the little idea to add a little Kurome x Wave during the battle, I hope you all enjoyed that.

Edit: Also, I still don't know what I was on when I used Bols in the story pre-edit. He's not as dead after this edit because the "sound" makes much more sense to be made by Desta-Ghoul than Rubicante. *facepalm*

Thanks for reading!


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